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Saturday, March 10, 2012

I was 20 or 21. He was playing for Karnataka against Saurashtra in
Rajkot. He is one of my idols. I just wanted to ask him that if I wanted
to play at the international level, what should I do and how can I
improve myself.

He was very happy to talk to me. He was very friendly. He told me he had
heard a lot about me scoring in domestic cricket and he was really
impressed with that. When you hear from a big player, that he has heard a
bit about you, it is very nice. After that, he gave me a few tips about
succeeding at the top level.

If it is similar to your game, it is easier to communicate and even he
can understand my mentality, what I am thinking and how I can improve.
Because he has gone through this stage many years back, he can
understand a youngster's psychology.

(One thing you would take from Dravid's game) I would say his positive
attitude towards the game. A bowler has to work really hard to get his
wicket. That quality I admire a lot because even I don't like to get
out.

In the Durban Test,
I played a pull shot and got out. He saw that and when I asked him what
went wrong, he told me to play my normal game. He had seen me play in
the Ranji Trophy and said that normally you don't play those kinds of
shots. "It is not your strength. You should play to your strength. The
ball was skidding off the wicket and the bounce was so high you can't
control the shot."

Ajinkya Rahane

He showed us how important your wicket is and to value it always.
Another thing about him is how humble he always is on and off the field.
That quality really stands out.
I had made 165 and 98 in the 2008-09 Duleep Trophy final in Chennai
against South Zone. He [Dravid] was part of that side. I wanted to go
and ask him about my batting but was feeling hesitant about approaching
such a big player. Instead, he himself came up to me and told me that I
was doing well and needed to continue playing the way I had been
playing.

He also told me that I belonged to the international level and would
play for India soon. He asked me to develop more confidence in my
batting which is so important at the highest level. To have my idol, who
I had grown up watching, reposing so much faith in me was a huge thing.
I have had the privilege of sharing two dressing rooms with him - India
and Rajasthan Royals.

Abhinav Mukund

He is a very, very meticulous man. He is very careful about all the
cricketing gear in his kit bag. It is all in order. It is never out of
place. I saw it when I started playing alongside Dravid. He was just
next to me and you could see all the pairs of gloves arranged neatly in
one row. You could see the bats in one corner. You would never see
things out of place. He is a man of order, I think. He is known for his
professionalism and his ethics so it comes alongside his character.

There was one game where the ball flicked his shoelaces and he got out
in England. You could notice the next day that he had changed his
shoelaces and tucked them in deep. When you say that the man leaves
nothing to chance, that is the biggest example of that.

He has definitely been very approachable. He is known to be a very quiet
man but once you approach him, once you start talking to him, he keeps
talking to you.

[One thing you would take from Dravid's game] Temperament. Ability to
fight it out in the middle. Ability to prove to himself and to others
that he can do it and he can do it outside the country. I think the
biggest example would have been the tours of West Indies and England
where he got four hundreds in seven Tests. The ability to prove people
wrong again and again.

Rohit Sharma

I've learnt quite a lot from him. The first thing is putting a price on
your wicket. Secondly, no matter what condition and situation you are
batting in, never give up. Just be there, feel the heat, feel the
pressure. That is when your true character shows. He showed us that.
That is the biggest thing I learnt from him.